National Endowment for the Arts FY 2017 Fall Grant Announcement

Program participants will work collaboratively to write, direct, and perform one-act plays and songs that will be
performed in a variety of venues, including a festival. Students of all ages will participate in the program.
Theatre Action Project (aka Creative Action)
$50,000 Austin, TX
To support Creative Action Teen Programs: Inspiring Young Adults as Artist-Activists. Teens create and perform
original plays about their lives; transform public spaces through original murals, sculptures, and installations;
and explore the power of film to reflect and shape the world through original filmmaking projects. Programs
combine rigorous arts learning, youth voice and personal development, and peer-to-peer education to help
young adults thrive as compassionate, thoughtful, and engaged citizens. The students come together to work
from homeless shelters, middle-class suburban public schools, low-income urban public schools, rural
communities, juvenile detention centers, special schools such as the Texas School for the Blind, as well as
rigorous fine arts magnets and private schools.
Theatre Of Hearts, Inc. (aka Theatre Of Hearts/Youth First)
$15,000 Los Angeles, CA
To support Literacy Alive Mural Program. Professional teaching artists mentor students in visual arts and
creative writing workshops that inspire the themes and images to be incorporated in large-scale murals at the
Central Juvenile Hall School. In creative writing workshops, students will explore and generate positive, prosocial
messages. In visual arts workshops, they will learn elements such as color theory, grid drawing, and
composition, and create images that will be translated into the design and installation of the mural.
Thomas Armour Youth Ballet Inc.
$25,000 South Miami, FL
To support Next Steps, a dance education program. Students in the year-round program will participate in free,
weekly classes focused on developing ballet, tap, and Horton Modern technique and repertory and will help
prepare them for auditions to middle and high school dance magnet programs. The Horton technique,
developed by Alvin Ailey's trainer Lester Horton, incorporates multicultural dance elements such as Native
American, Balinese, and Afro-Caribbean, and emphasizes flexibility, strength, coordination, and dramatic
freedom of expression. During the summer months, youth will participate in field trips and classes, including
conditioning, vocabulary, and ballet history. Students will be provided with appropriate dance clothing and jazz,
tap, ballet, and pointe shoes. Older students are assigned a mentor to assist in preparation for SAT and college
admission, coaching for auditions, and essay writing. The program serves students in Neighborhood Outreach
Centers in underserved neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County.
Tucson Symphony Society (aka Tucson Symphony Society)
$15,000 Tucson, AZ
To support the Young Composers Project (YCP). Elementary through high school students learn to compose
original works for orchestra by working with professional composers and musicians. Students regularly interact
with the professional musicians and ensembles, writing sketches for these professionals and receiving critique
and input. The young composers learn basic theory, ear training, score reading, and use Finale software in the
YCP lab. The program culminates in public reading sessions of the students' original works performed by the
Tucson Symphony Orchestra (TSO) and the TSO String Quartet.
University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
$15,000 Milwaukee, WI
Some details of the projects listed are subject to change, contingent upon prior Arts Endowment approval. Information is current as of
December 7, 2016.